| Section 10: Early American money | Previous | Section Index |
| Not worth a Continental In 1775, the Continental Congress issued the new nation’s first paper money. Continental notes were used to finance government operations, primarily the Revolution. The notes were initially stable, but their overissue led to inflation. People lost faith in the government’s ability to redeem the notes. “Not worth a Continental” came to mean “utterly worthless.” The government did not issue paper money again until 1861. |
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